In These Alternate Universes We Are
by dark raven0
Summary: There are many possibilities, but they exist all the same, side by side in worlds where things may not make so much sense. Unrelated Gali and Tahu drabbles inspired by music, AU GxT


**Disclaimer:** Bionicle is in no way associated with me.

1. Explosive – Bond

"You ready?" A question, directed to Gali, ripped out of his throat, low and primal as he forced himself to concentrate on battle, forced himself to not think of the mere possibilities of losing Gali, because that's what toa are supposed to do, aren't they? To put other's wellbeing in front of their own.

"Of course." Gali's curt nod to him pulled him back to earth, readying his tools to fight, forcing himself to remember this wasn't playtime, not anymore it wasn't.

They were surrounded, and that was never a good thing, but the simple, inexcusable fact that they were surrounded by rhakshi of all creatures, only made it worse. Far worse. Because here, the possibility of losing one of his team was too great to even contemplate. The possibility of losing her was too great. And so, as he forced himself away from these gory possibilities, the only ones that seemed to exist under this cloudy sky, he made eye contact with Gali for the last, no, it couldn't be the last, time; a mutual understanding flowing between them, that they would survive, that they had to, and if not for themselves, at least for the others wellbeing they would.

And so, as he finally gave his full focus unto the enemy (those filthy vile creatures), he allowed some of his carefully restrained boundaries to slip, to erode, and he launched himself at the enemy, into the fray, and lost sight of all that was reasonable. He would survive, he promised himself, he would not, could not lose sight of his end goal. Not here, not now. Not ever.

2. Passion – Utada Hikaru

They were windswept, falling effortlessly through air, yet clinging to each other, heads bent together and fingers intertwined to the inevitable end as they spiraled headfirst into the unforgiving earth below.

This was their end, and it had never tasted so sweet.

Sweet enough she realized, as she fell, still tasting him on her lips, fresh and burning, to not fight the end because each and every single thing has an end, and at least she had found him a few minutes before it was all over, before her clock stopped ticking and her sands of time stopped flowing.

She had found him, and that was all that mattered.

"Silly girl." He breathed against her cheek, the sound nearly lost in the wind that whipped past them, the words as perfect as if he had read her mind, "Do you really think I'm going to give up now?"

They fell; hands intertwined, bodies twisted together, headfirst, spiraling, leaving a trail of suspended tears behind them, a glistening staircase from the heavens to the earth.

3. Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson

(AU)

She was riding far away now, too far gone to even contemplate going after, and she knew that, relished it, and grieved over it. Gali smiled bitterly out the window, elbow resting uncomfortably on the small sliver of window sill that all old fashion trains seemed to have.

Kopaka had helped her buy the ticket, fully understanding, and even accepting her inevitable leaving, her cowardly fleeing, from his brother. He had nodded to her request, going as far as to drive her to the station, slipping a ten into her pocket as she departed, for "things" as he had said.

The fast-flowing rain sputtered against the windowsill, a torrential downpour of cold that only seemed to grow worse as the train lurched forwards, starting its journey, obscuring her vision almost completely. Kopaka came into view; dry under his umbrella as the train began to roll forwards, his expression impassive, and then, her heart stopping for a moment before restarting, relieved that he could most likely no longer see her, Tahu came into view.

Tahu, running up the wooden steps, his expression heartbroken, pained, and ashen, the good bye note clutched in his fist, ink running. He dashed up the stairs, always her knight in shining armor she realized murkily, and catching sight of her, changed direction, his feet pounding over the damp boards in a noise lost in the churning of wheels, his mouth moving in soundless synchronization. 'Gali.'

She knew that's what he would be yelling if she could hear, his fiery red blond hair flopping over one eye as he cried out. Turning her head, and leaning back against the seat, Gali forced herself to choke back tears, never watching as the station was lost from view, the train finally moving in earnest.

Maybe one day she would come back, she hoped. Maybe. Maybe one day, she could show him why she left exactly, with more than a mere note explaining, and one plus on a pink stick as proof. Maybe, one day, she could show him the son or daughter he only now knew about. Maybe, but not now.

Gali watched the rain pound, obscuring her vision, leaving the passing landscape blur past in a merging of greens and grays. Maybe one day, she mused.

4. Our Lips are Sealed – Hilary Duff

(AU)

Tahu smirked at her, his laughter almost getting the best of him as he exchanged a glance with Gali, sharing an inside joke. One that probably had something to do with their linked hands. Or something.

He looked away from her for a moment, taking in the school cafeteria, and making a beeline for their normal table, which probably was winning the most hilarious expressions award at this point, he noted wryly.

Lewa was squinting at their linked hands, as if unsure of his twenty-twenty vision. Pohatu and Takanuva wore similar open mouth gaping expressions, revealing, he noted with an inwards cringe, whatever the school was serving that day for lunch, sans the solid quality. Onua's knowing glance, coupled with the bemused twitch of his mouth made Tahu wonder if the heavily tanned Senior knew more than he was letting on. Kopaka just looked ticked. Royally ticked. A reaction that Tahu was fully enjoying at this moment.

A snort diverted his attention for a moment. "Do you notice their expressions?" Gali's mouth shook against his ear as she laughed, and he allowed himself a chuckle and a nod before turning to face her.

"I sure did. You wanna go sit down, or what?"

"Sure, we can't possibly deprive them of such a scandalous opportunity to stare and gape, or in Kopaka's case, glare." Gali rolled her eyes at this. "I don't see what his problem is, really. Most other girls would kill to go out with him, and he knows this."

Chuckling, he hid his face in her hair for a moment. "He's just jealous." Then, steering her down the aisle and past the table, headed for the lunch lines, he heard something that quirked his lips up and sent Gali into near convulsions of silent laughter.

"Did they like, hook up, or something?" He heard Lewa muse out loud as they passed.

5. Weight of the World – Evanescence

He had to trust her, Gali thought unhappily, otherwise it just wouldn't work. There had been no time to explain, and the mere hope that he would just go along with it was the only thing holding up this particular plan of action.

The plan that would save their teammates. The city. And quite possibly the universe.

It all depended on his trust in her, his willingness to believe that she wasn't going to get herself killed in the process, no matter what it looked like.

Gali glanced back to Tahu, taking in his grim expression as they ran over thin bridges, barely a hand span wide, merely thin rods of protodermis laid over gaps, the only thing stopping them from a fall that spanned more than few kio.

He needed to throw her over the edge at precisely the right moment at exactly the right spot. Not something easy for the already stressed and worn thin toa that now stood beside her, staring up at the grotesque pulsing tower of glowing and throbbing flesh that swayed in front of them with a certain degree of indifferent horror that only came from seeing far too much for any normal toa's sanity in such a short span of time.

"Tahu?" The thing he didn't know, and she could only suspect, was that this thing was just like a plant, with roots at the bottom. Cut those, and down it falls. But there wasn't time to explain, not now.

"Yes?" The dark sky around them pulsed with energy, swirling around them, giving the air that certain degree of moistness that indicated a coming storm.

"Do it now." He had to do it. Because she couldn't bring herself to do so. And because, she hoped this reason would appear at least a bit nobler than the other reason of secretive nature (because it wasn't very noble at all, more like selfish), and if what she suspected was false, this city still needed at least one toa save the day.

"No." Tahu's expression was harder than stone as he turned to face her, his face set into a permanent grimace. "Gali, I-I just can't." He turned away then, as if ashamed by this. "I don't see why you have to jump down there. There's no possible way you'd ever survive." He shuddered at this, almost a reflexive instinct as he saw the only possible ending to what she had requested, and hated what came to mind. "I can't afford to lose you too." Because you're the only one left. The unspoken ending to his sentence hovered in the air, transparent.

"Tahu, I won't die. I will come back." She said these words with such conviction, not believing a single one as they fell from her lips and into the air, hovering there as the lie they both knew she was telling..

"Then if you believe it so much, why don't you just go?" Tahu muttered these words almost sorrowfully, turning to face her as he did, and Gali, catching sight of his crumbling face, felt her own resolve collapsing. She was the only constant of his right now, and he couldn't bear to let her go, perhaps realizing better than her, that there was always more than one solution to a problem, always more than one, and he was willing to go and find it, ready to fight tooth and nail for it, as long as she would stay with him.

Gali faltered. "I'll…I'll stay." Because even those who were born to save the lives of others, she realized, had to have some self preservation in place.

"Good girl." His mouth quirked up as he said this, uncharacteristic of him, but fully appropriate for this situation.

"So," Gali posed the question musingly, lifting an eyebrow in question. "How are we going to do this? With or without explosives?" The adrenaline must be going to her head she thought, as he grinned back.

"Oh, I think explosives are exactly what we need." His smirk was one filled with a sudden surge of confidence. "Nova blasts sound especially tempting right about now."

Gali nodded to him, relieved for no reason. "I'll take one side, you take the other?"

"Sounds good to me." They parted ways, and even as unsure of how much this was going to actually help the situation, Gali still felt herself smiling as she lost sight of him, the only constant in her life right now.

It was nice to be able to return the favor for once.

6. I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown

This whole situation, Tahu noted as he kissed her, wouldn't even be unfolding if it weren't for the fact that for the whole week before, it had been raining, spraying muddy droplets everywhere, and he, being the good Samaritan he was, had offered Gali rides for the duration of the rainy period (and quite conveniently forgot that Kopaka, his irritating geeky brother needed them too).

Of course, his car had gotten quite muddy, the brown covering the red beneath it deftly, leaving his poor car indistinguishable from any in the junk yard. And Gali, being the good (beautiful, vivacious, wonderful) Samaritan she was, had felt guilty that she had reaped all the benefits, offered to help wash his car. He of course, took her up on her offer.

And it all had progressed from there. Smoothly for once, in fact. Tahu had sprayed the car down, Gali had gotten the soap and rags ready, and they had commenced, and then somehow, he really didn't care how, Gali had ended up beneath him on the hood, both mindless of the bubbles that seemed to stick to their skin, leaving only slippery surfaces.

A slight cough distracted both of them long enough to take in Kopaka standing on the front porch, looking slightly embarrassed as he glanced pointedly away from them. "Some of us," he said delicately, meaning only himself, Tahu guessed, "Are trying to study, and your blatant display of lust" he looked pointedly at Tahu, who merely rolled his eyes. "Is quite distracting to-"

"Oh shut it icy," Tahu cut him off before turning his attention back to Gali, "Just because you refuse to get curtains," Gali snorted in amusement at this revelation. "Doesn't mean we can't enjoy ourselves." Gali placed a strategic kiss on his neck, and Tahu promptly lost his whole train of thought. "And don't think I don't know why you refuse to."

The slam of the front door alerted the pair of his final departure, and Tahu smiled, feeling the sensual touch of his lips against Gali's.

Victory at last (in more senses than one).

Ahem…erm yes. Happy holidays.

A bit of a mash-up of some old writing I had floating around somewhere on my computer, and I felt bad for not posting anything like I said I would on Thanksgiving break, so here it is. I might actually do more of these, since seven is such an odd number to stop at.

Anyways…reviews, por favor?


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